In Columbus, Blue Jackets head coach John Tortorella got a vote of confidence earlier in the day from team management.
On the ice, his team gave him something of a boost in a 4-1 decision over the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday night.
“Guys just came to the rink feeling good today, guys were making plays and it was a lot of fun, so a step in the right direction,” Columbus’ Zach Werenski said.
Cam Atkinson scored in the first period to give the Jackets a 1-0 lead.
“We talked about it actually, between the second and third,” Atkinson said. “We said that was our best second period of the season so far. For whatever reason, we just stayed on top of our game, stayed on our toes and tried to go get the next goal. I think it showed.”
Anthony Mantha replied to Atkinson’s goal with a strike for Detroit to end the opening frame tied, 1-1.
“We just lost too many battles, too many individual battles,” the Red Wings’ Luke Glendening said. “We have to be better as individuals and be better as a team.”
Joonas Korpisalo made 19 saves in the win.
“It was huge. It gave us so much momentum and energy,” Atkinson said. “You know, I wasn’t sure at first in warmups, just because you don’t know how many people 2,000 is. When we came out for the start of the game I was pleasantly shocked. That was a huge boost for us. I think we showed it. It was great to have our fans back in the building.”
Riley Nash, Jack Roslovic and Boone Jenner scored in the middle frame for Columbus to erase any chance the Red Wings could rally back.
“We had a number of guys move the puck pretty well,” Tortorella said. “I think that’s the most important thing, is just to get the puck moving better.”
“When the momentum shifted away from us, we allowed it to shift away from us,” Red Wings head coach Jeff Blashill said. “We didn’t have any push-back shifts at all.
“That happens when you turn pucks over too, because then you just keep defending. At the end of the day, in the second period, we were defending the whole time.”
Jonathan Bernier made 23 saves through 40 minutes of play. He got the hook in the second intermission.
“Usually when a goal gets overturned that’s some momentum for your team, and unfortunately it didn’t work like that for us tonight,” Glendening said.
Thomas Greiss made nine saves in the third period in a mop up role.
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